Intelsat claims $84m for damaged satellite

By Chris Forrester

Intelsat’s IS-19 craft, launched back in June, suffered from damage to one of its all-important solar panels. The satellite was launched from the Sea Launch floating platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with various theories as to what cause the damage. Intelsat has now issued an $84 million claim on its insurers representing about 28 per cent of the craft’s $300 million value.

The satellite is working despite initial problems with the ‘sticky’ solar panel that was slow to deploy and took 11 days to correctly extend itself. Intelsat says that the satellite is currently suffering a “marginal” power loss but this is expected to exacerbate as the 15-year mission unfolds.

Intelsat-19 serves 166 degrees East, and serves China and Taiwan, South East Asia, Japan, the Philippines and Australia.